Sermon: Hadassah (Esther 2:1-10)

Hadassah Sunday, December 22nd, 2024 Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA

Esther 2:1-10 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her. Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them: And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so. Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women. And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women. Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.

Prayer

O God we thank you for Your Word, which is a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path. Open our eyes, that we might behold wondrous things from Your law, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

Last week we were introduced to the man Mordecai, and in order to better understand this wonderful story of Esther that God has given us, we have been trying get inside the minds of each character and see the world from their perspective. We did this first with King Ahasuerus, then with Vashti, then with Mordecai, and this morning we are going to begin to do something similar with our heroine, Esther. So this will be a kind of biographical sermon on Who Esther is, and then once we are all familiar with the main characters of this drama, we can then pick up the pace and get into the actual narrative and the many questions it provokes.

So our focus this morning will just be on verse 7, where Esther is introduced, so let me read that verse again for us.

Verse 7

7And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

• So we are first introduced to this fair and beautiful maiden as a woman who has two names. And these two names, Hadassah and Esther, suggest a kind of double identity. And it is this question of, “Who is Esther?” that shall play a decisive role in whether the King has favor upon her and her people, or whether they are destroyed.
• One of the hinges upon which this whole story turns is whether Esther has the courage to embrace and reveal her Jewish identity, or whether from shame or fear or some other motive, continues to hide that identity.
• And so to understand the conflict within this young woman, we need to consider the meaning of